Abstract

A high-risk pregnancy is one of the major health issues in the public health setting. It contributes to the ranked morbidity and mortality statistics in health surveillance. To reduce the incidence and complication of high-risk pregnancy, many strategies have been carried out including examining the root causes which to know the understanding of high-risk pregnancy among the client itself. This study was conducted with the general objective to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of pregnant women at the Penampang Health Clinic, Sabah on high-risk pregnancies and complications during pregnancy. A descriptive cross-sectional study with structured questionnaires to 100 registered pregnant women, aged between 18 and 45 years old was done. Results showed that no statistically significant differences to the variables (p ≥ a=0.05). All respondents have good knowledge, attitudes, and practices during pregnancy. The high-risk pregnancy status among respondents showed quite well that none had a red codding antenatal card. 88 people (88%) green codding antenatal card category and 12 (12%) yellow coding antenatal cards. Awareness and knowledge of high-risk pregnancies are also positive where the knowledge score of the respondents is 85% and there is no difference for the level of knowledge about high-risk pregnancy between the primigravida and pregnant mother with more than 4 times pregnancy. This shows that the respondents are ready for pregnancy by getting information about their pregnancy condition. However, there is some study limitation which can be considered for the next study; (i) This sample is limited to 100 respondents only a comprehensive picture of knowledge, attitudes, and practices among mothers pregnant with high-risk pregnancies (ii) The uneven sampling method by population causes no give a clear picture of the objective of the study. (iii) The population selection is limited in the Maternal and Child Health Clinic of Penampang, Sabah only. (iv) Instrument limitation that needs to be processed in more detail to obtain and deliver information about high-risk pregnancies to respondents.

Keywords: Pregnancy; Public health; Maternal and child health; Anemia; Hypertension; Diabetes